Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of a one-week increase in step count on blood pressure in normotensive young adults; Methods: A one-arm, quasi-experimental design with pre-and post-intervention measurements was employed in 12 participants (24.8 +/- 4.2 years). During the first week, habitual walking patterns were recorded, while in the second week, participants were encouraged to increase their daily step count. Physical activity was monitored using Polar Vantage V2 devices, and blood pressure was measured using a sphygmomanometer; Results: A significant increase in daily step count was observed during the second week (p = 0.029; d = 0.72), accompanied by a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure (p = 0.004; d =-1.03) and mean arterial pressure (p = 0.027; d =-0,74). Additionally, a significant negative correlation was found between the increase in step count and both diastolic (r =-0.651, p = 0.022) and mean arterial pressure (r =-0.655, p = 0.021); Conclusions: These findings suggest that increasing daily step count, even over a one-week period, can lead to a reduction in blood pressure-particularly mean arterial pressure-in normotensive young adults.